Bitcoin Payment Processes Come to a Halt on Stripe

Stripe is a well known tech company that prides itself in leading at the cutting edge of technology and innovation. Boasting of its capacity to handle billions of dollars worth of online transactions on its payment platform, Stripe was among the first big-time payment entities to ever support Bitcoin payments, starting back in 2014.

However the company (through its product manager Tom Karlo) has announced on its website the winding down process of Bitcoin payment support, which will run to its full completion on 23rd April 2018.

Why Shut Down Bitcoin Payments?

Undeniably, Bitcoin has had volatility issues since its inception, with the price moving from one value in a matter of minutes. In fact, just recently Bitcoin transactions have been delayed even more, taking hours. Meanwhile, transaction fees have gone through the roof with the rise of Bitcoin’s price.

According to the post by Tom Karlo on Stripe’s website, these recent developments have pretty much turned Bitcoin into an asset more than a “means of exchange” The post further indicated that with the block size limit of Bitcoin having been reached, the cryptocurrency has deviated from its original “universal decentralized substrate for online transactions” and has now lost its utility for processing payments.

Basically, the high volatility in the price of Bitcoin has led to inaccurate pricing that has made Bitcoin payments “as expensive as bank wires”.

There Is Still Hope for Cryptocurrency Payments

Even though Stripe’s announcement might be bad news for most Bitcoin enthusiasts keen on seeing the cryptocurrency gain more acceptance, Stripe’s announcement went further to add that it will “work with affected Stripe Users to ensure a smooth transition” before support for Bitcoin transactions are stopped in April.

Furthermore the company remained optimistic, name-checking Lightning, OmiseGO, Ethereum, BitcoinCash , Karlo and Litecoin as some of the most interesting projects that might be supported in the future if they continue to offer clever solutions to Bitcoin’s scalability problem. According to the statement, Stripe confirmed its stake in Stellar (a Blockchain project that facilitates global payments) as one of the cryptocurrencies that maybe added to its platform in the future.

Do you think the move by Stripe to remove support for Bitcoin transactions on its platform is a short-sighted move, or is it a realistic decision? Share your thoughts and ideas with us in the comments section below.